


Some Things Never Change

by OnceBlinkInsomniac



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: OT12 - Freeform, Other, Platonic Relationships, in honor of Haseul’s birthday, lots of fluff, my sucky attempt at humor, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:42:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25976125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceBlinkInsomniac/pseuds/OnceBlinkInsomniac
Summary: Haseul remembers the first birthday she spent with the girls who would soon become her family.Or the one where Chaewon isn’t the one almost burning down the kitchen, Sooyoung wants to kill Jungeun and Haseul’s parents are left wondering if they made the right decision allowing Haseul to move into a dorm with eleven other girls.
Relationships: OT12
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Some Things Never Change

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in honor of Haseul’s birthday and because I just really miss her. I hope you guys enjoy it

Haseul wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she woke up that morning but she couldn’t help the pang of disappointment that hit her when she saw that there were no new notifications from the Loona group chat or any missed calls from any of the girls.

She reasoned that they were probably busy with preparations for their newest comeback and that they would probably call to congratulate her the first chance she got. It felt weird, not being with them during this special day. She hadn’t even realized how used she’d gotten to spending the day with all eleven girls, having grown up as an only child.

As Haseul laid there in bed, she remembered the first birthday she’d spent with her members. Back when most of them spent their time with the same one or two other members and she herself still felt a little bit awkward about living with eleven other girls, some with whom she hadn’t gotten the chance to really connect with yet.

_Haseul was woken up by the familiar smell of pancakes. She scrunched her nose in confusion as the members usually had fruit or cereal for breakfast. She sat up from her bed, still half asleep and yawning, as she looked around the bedroom. She was surprised at the sight of the empty room, having grown used to being one of the first members up every morning, not counting the youngest of the group who still attended school._

_Today, however, was a Saturday and one of the first off days they’d had in months so she’d been expecting most of the members to stay in bed until noon at least. She turned around to look at the clock that sat on the night table next to her bed and was even more surprised to see that it was barely eight am. She sighed, already wanting the day to come to an end. It was her first birthday away from home and Haseul felt even more home-sick than usual._

_She wanted to go back to sleep but curiosity drove her out of bed. She slipped her feet inside her slippers and made her way out the room. Haseul followed the delicious smell of pancakes all the way to the kitchen where she was met with an unexpected sight._

_All the girls were working in tandem, moving around the kitchen as one. Sooyoung was flipping a new batch of pancakes on the stove while Jungeun stood next to her watching the bacon. Jiwoo and Yerim stood on the counter squeezing fresh orange juice while Hyejoo and Gowon were cutting up fruit next to them. Kahei and Yeojin were setting up the kitchen table and Heejin and Hyunjin were sitting down and arguing over what sounded like wrapping paper while Jinsoul watched._

_“I’m telling you, Haseul won’t mind if it’s not wrapped to perfection”, Hyunjin stated, exasperation clear in her voice.” Heejin ignored her and continued to unwrap a big box that had been wrapped half haggardly. “I won’t mind what?” Haseul questioned, biting back a laugh that threatened to come out at the sight of eleven heads simultaneously shooting towards her._

_“Unnie, you’re not supposed to be here”, Yeojin stuttered out. “I can just leave”, Haseul responded, feeling slightly offended. She turned to walk away but was stopped by multiple complaints. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that”, Yeojin exclaimed. Haseul turned back around and was immediately met with a tight hug by Yeojin. “Happy birthday Unnie”, she said. Her words were repeated by ten other girls as they all rushed to join the hug._

_Haseul was still confused by the time they had all pulled back from the hug. She wasn’t even aware that they had known what today was. “Surprise”, Jinsol said as she flourished her arms out towards the crudely cut fruit and half empty jug of orange juice. “You weren’t supposed to wake up for a while yet”, she added, slightly admonishing her, much to Haseul’s amusement._

_“Oh crap”, Sooyoung suddenly exclaimed as she ran back towards the stove. The slight scent of burnt pancakes was slowly starting to fill the room as small flames jumped from the pan. Jungeun reacted quickly by taking out the fire extinguisher from below the kitchen cabinet and spraying the stove full of foam, covering not only the pancakes and the bacon but also poor Sooyoung who was unlucky enough to be standing right there, trying to put the small fire out with a kitchen towel._

_They all held their breath as Sooyoung slowly turned to glare at the now frozen Jungeun, still holding the fire extinguisher. “In my defense, you’re the one who started the fire”, she said. She instantly regretted it, however, at the icy look Sooyoung shot her. She opened her mouth, about to scream at the slightly younger girl, when an unexpected laugh started to fill the room. Sooyoung quickly turned around, ready to find a new target for her anger, but immediately softened when she realized that it was Haseul who was laughing._

_Said girl was clutching her stomach as she laughed harder than she’d had in a long time. The tension that had filled the room started fading at the sound. Sooyoung looked around at the foam filled kitchen and at herself, a small chuckle also leaving her mouth as her previous anger started fading away. Hearing Sooyoung laugh made the rest of the tension disappear and soon enough, all twelve girls were clutching their stomachs, tears streaming down their cheeks from laughing so much as they stood in the middle of their now ruined surprise._

_After they had all calmed down, Heejin and Jinsol had walked over to the nearest breakfast place to buy everyone some food, as everything they had prepared was now ruined. Sooyoung took that time to take a quick shower to clean off and Jungeun dragged Jiwoo into helping her clean up the mess she’d made. Yerim also volunteered to help, weirdly excited about it for reasons unknown to Haseul. She sometimes wondered what went on in that girl’s mind._

_It was less than an hour later that they were all sitting on top of a blanket that Jiwoo had insisted on laying down on the living room floor. “It’ll be just like a picnic” She’d said. Jinsol and Heejin were handing out their breakfast orders from the bags and Haseul took her breakfast sandwich with a smile. “Hey Haseul, I’m sorry about ruining the surprise we’d been planning” Sooyoung suddenly said._

_“Yeah, me too”, Jungeun added. Similar exclaims started sprouting from the rest of the members and they all had identical guilty expressions as they looked down. Haseul however, only felt a warmth enveloping her as she remembered all the trouble, they’d gone too to try to make her birthday a special day. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously. It was all worth it to see Sooyoung covered in foam. The only thing surprising is that I always thought Chaewon would be the one almost burning down the kitchen to be honest”, she said, teasing her members._

_Her smile grew even bigger at the playful glare that both Sooyoung and Chaewon shot her. After that, the incident was quickly forgotten as they all focused on eating. Afterwards, Hyunjin and Heejin had run back to the kitchen and returned moments later carrying the half-wrapped box that Haseul had seen before. “This is from all of us. Happy birthday unnie”, Heejin said as they handed her the box. Haseul was surprised at the gesture, already feeling a little bit overwhelmed with everything they had already done for her._

_“What are you waiting for? Open it”, Yeojin said, almost jumping with excitement. Haseul chuckled and did as she was told. Inside was a large book and she quickly realized that it was a photo album. Unshed tears stung her eyes as she took it out. On the cover laid a picture the twelve girls had taken the first time they’d all been together. On top of the picture laid a sentence, spelled out by different letters that had clearly been cut from magazines. “How twelve became one.” “I love it”, she finally said, her eyes never leaving the cover. “Thank you.”_

_After that, the members had insisted on putting a drama that Haseul had been obsessed with lately and the rest of the day was spent in the living room. Haseul didn’t even care that she couldn’t even hear half of what the characters were saying as Yeojin’s constant questions about what was happening continually made her lose focus._

_In fact, by the third episode she’d completely given up and was focused on watching as Hyejoo flicked Yeojin on the forehead because she wouldn’t shut up. A fight quickly started between them before Sooyoung intervened by flicking them both on the forehead, making them shut up. On the other couch, Jungeun was trying to shove Jiwoo away but the cheerful girl seemed intent on making her into her cuddle buddy. A fond smile stretched across Haseul’s lips as she regarded all their antics, wondering why she’d felt so lonely before when she had some amazing girls going through the same journey with her._

_That night, she was sitting in the living room, long after her members had all gone to sleep. As stupid as it sounded, she didn’t want the day to come to an end. For the first time since she’d left home, she actually felt like she’d managed to find a new one. And she didn’t want the feeling to end. She was looking through her photo album, seeing how the members could visibly be seen looking more comfortable and relaxed in each photo as time went on._

_She suddenly felt, more than heard, a body sitting next to her. She didn’t have to turn to know exactly who it was. How did they know it was my birthday?” she asked the older girl, who was the only one to have known. “I told them.” She responded simply. Haseul struggled to find the words for a few moments before she decided to go with something simple. “Thank you.” Kahei didn’t respond, simply enveloping her in a hug. “Happy birthday Seulie.” She whispered in her ear._

Haseul chuckled as she remembered that day so long ago with the same fondness she always did. She turned her head to look at that very same album that sat in its usual place, on top of her night table. That had been almost three years ago and their bond had only grown in that time until she could honestly say that she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

Her smile, however, grew smaller as she remembered that she hadn’t seen them in weeks. They’d been so busy practicing constantly for their newest comeback, so what, and hadn’t had time to visit. Haseul hated the part of herself that felt slight bitterness at that, reminding herself that it wasn’t their fault.

It wasn’t like she’d been expecting that they would cease all activity until she got better and her hiatus was over. Even so, she still couldn’t help but feel left out. And the thought that they’d forgotten her birthday certainly didn’t help.

She forced herself to get out of bed, knowing she would simply keep throwing herself a pity party if she stayed. After one more glance at her phone, which still didn’t have any new messages, she made her way downstairs. “Happy birthday Haseul”, her mom greeted her as she hugged her. “How about we go out and have dinner at that place we used to go every year on your birthday?” her dad proposed as he leaned down to kiss the side of her forehead.

Haseul agreed, not wanting to disappoint her parents even though celebrating like they used to, just the three of them, didn’t feel right. Why was it, Haseul wondered, that no matter whether she was in the dorm or back home, her family always felt incomplete.

After breakfast, Haseul headed back upstairs, deciding that sleeping the rest of the day away until dinner seems like a reasonable plan. She slipped back under her covers, although not before checking her phone one last time. Disappointed, she closed her eyes and quickly drifted back to sleep.

\----------------

Haseul awoke a few hours later to what sounded like arguing downstairs. Worriedly, she quickly made her way back down, following the noise all the way to the living room. “I’m telling you, Haseul won’t mind if we gift wrap her gift or not”, Hyunjin was saying as a clearly frustrated Heejin looked seconds away from throwing hands.

Haseul shook her head amused. She briefly wondered why they kept leaving both girls in charge of the gift, seeing as it was the same argument year after year. She looked around the room, noticing most of the girls blowing up balloons and placing them around the room with Hyejoo and Yeojin in the middle of what seemed to be a competition for who could blow the biggest balloon. Meanwhile, Jungeun and Sooyoung were icing a cake in the kitchen counter.

Her parents were standing near the door, looking at the chaos that were the eleven girls with mouths agape. Haseul laughed, knowing they were definitely something you had to get used to. She walked across the room towards them, feeling lighter than she had all day. “What’s all this?” she questioned. Both their heads shot towards her, probably wondering when she’d shown up. “I’m honestly not sure honey. Your father and I left to go run some errands while you were sleeping and returned to eleven girls redecorating the living room with balloons and streamers. Two of them even started baking a cake.” She shrugged helplessly, still perplexed at the situation. Haseul simply laughed, used to her member’s lack of social skills.

Just leave them to me”, she assured them. Both of them simply nodded and started making their way upstairs. “I could have sworn I’d locked the door when we went out.” Her dad mumbled under his breath as they walked past. Haseul decided not to tell him that he probably did but that Hyejoo had some questionable skills, picking locks being one of them.

She stood near the door, wondering how long it would take before they realized she was there. As much as it amused her, it also worried her sometimes how oblivious her members could be. She stood there for a good ten minutes, just happy looking at them. She couldn’t believe she’d genuinely though they’d forgotten her birthday.

It wasn’t until she realized that Jiwoo was turning an unnaturally red color from trying to blow up huge balloons that she finally decided to step in before the younger girl made herself pass out. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the first time that happened. “Here, I’ll help. You take a break” she told her, taking the new balloon Jiwoo had just grabbed from a bag from her hand. “Thanks”, Jiwoo muttered, catching her breath.

Haseul had just finished blowing up the second balloon by the time Jiwoo finally seemed to understand what was happening. “Wait, Haseul? You’re not supposed to be here”, she shrieked, making Haseul instinctively cover her ears. Oh how she’d missed almost going deaf every time she stood next to the other girl.

“I live here”, she stated bluntly. Jiwoo didn’t bother replying, crushing her in a hug immediately. The rest of the members finally caught on to the situation, clued in by Jiwoo’s scream.

“Wait what?”

“Haseul?”

“Where?”

“Why does she always have to show up early?”

The last one was clearly Hyejoo and Haseul wanted to laugh at the clear frustration in her tone. Before long, she felt the other’s joining the hug, various happy birthday exclamations ringing out. It was quickly broken though, when the faint smell of burning food started coming from the kitchen. Jungeun and Sooyoung looked at each other wide-eyed. “You took the cupcakes out like I told you too, right?” Sooyoung questioned the younger girl. “I thought you had already taken them out.” Jungeun defended herself. Without another word, both girls ran towards the over, opening it and making everyone cough as black smoke started coming out.

Everyone quickly ran over to try and help, but only succeeding in making it worse as chaos descended over the kitchen. Haseul simply shook her head, watching them all trying to blame each other. Some things truly never changed. And she wouldn’t want them too. Although at this rate, they would probably burn down the dorm long before they even got their first win.

Haseul’s parents were alerted by the smell of smoke making its way upstairs and they quickly rushed down to see what was happening. Long story short, Haseul spent her birthday dinner in the same restaurant she and her parents used to go every year except this time, the table was set for 14 instead of 3. And she finally felt complete as she was surrounded by both her parents and the sisters she’d made along the way.

BONUS:

Needless to say, Jungeun finally joined Chaewon on the list of members banned from cooking and Haseul had to reassure her parents that no, it wasn’t at all worrying that she’d looked on as her members almost burned down their kitchen as though it was an every day occurrence and yes, she was sure that none of them were responsible for all the fresh loaves of bread that her mother had made that morning going missing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are highly appreciated


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